Venue also announces break-even year, launch of new series on website

By Steve Barnes

Updated 8:54 pm, Wednesday, December 4, 2013

Tickets to the Bolshoi Ballet's performances at the Saratoga Performing Arts Center will go on sale online at 10 a.m. Tuesday and will be available for in-person purchases during a special opening of the SPAC box office on Dec. 21.

Strong interest from patrons wishing to give the tickets as holiday gifts led to the early on-sale, one of the few times in SPAC's history that the venue has made tickets available before the New Year.

Only Bolshoi tickets will be available starting next week; tickets for other programming in SPAC's summer 2014 lineup are scheduled to go on sale in the spring.

The famed Russian company, known for its large and lavish productions of classical ballets, will present four performances of "Don Quixote" from July 30 to Aug. 1. The ticket announcement was officially made during a meeting of SPAC's board of directors at the GlobalFoundries facility.

In other new from the meeting, the board was told SPAC will finish 2013 by breaking even on its operating budget for the ninth year, and the governing body voted to approve a $9.2 million budget for the 2014 fiscal year.

Boosting the bottom line this year were a pair of record-breaking payments: of $1.35 million from concert promoter Live Nation for its rock concerts at SPAC and net income of $235,000 for the 14th annual Saratoga Wine & Food Festival, held in September.

To further promote interest in next summer's programming, SPAC on Dec. 12 will launch its "Building of a Season" series on its website, http://spac.org.

The online series will feature weekly announcements and profiles of artists, repertoire and events planned for the upcoming season.

SPAC also announced the appointment of Philip B. Livingston to its board of directors. A New Jersey resident, veteran corporate leader and financial expert, Livingston is described as playing a "significant role" in the formulation and passage of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002. He also played offensive tackle as a member of the 1981 Super Bowl champion Oakland Raiders.

Livingston replaces SPAC seven-year board member Larry King of Saratoga Springs, president and CEO of King Wealth Management. King decided to step down to have more time to devote time to his financial services firm.